Writing For The Web

By Nicole Aebi-Moyo

Writing for the web is different to writing for print.
People usually jump around a web page looking for the information
they're after and get bored very quickly. This article outlines steps
you can take to improve the readability of your website.

Reading the Web

Nearly 85% of website users skim-read pages: they don't read them
word for word. People also read website text much slower than they read
the printed word, are reluctant to scroll, and often read just the
first paragraph of each page. Even when they've decided that the page
contains something they're interested in, they'll only read the first
line of each paragraph.

This article covers how to:

Structure your content

Write text that's accessible

Write text that's easy to maintain

Deal with numbers on the web

Write copy that gets you noticed by search engines

Deal with editorial control.

Structure you content

Writing for websites is a bit like writing press articles or
releases. You should start with your conclusion and then go on to give
more details, linking to more in-depth information, if necessary. Put
your conclusion first, everything else second.

The main heading of the page should provide an overview of what the
page is about, the opening paragraph is a brief conclusion of the page,
and then come the various subheadings to give more detail: a bit like
this article really.

Here are some handy tips on writing great, easy to read text:

Use shorter paragraphs than you normally would

The first sentence of each paragraph should suggest what is to follow

Deal with just one idea per paragraph

Use fewer words; roughly half the number you would use in print

Make sure the "who", "what", "where", "when" and "why" appear at the top of the page, a bit like a press story

Use bulleted lists

Make headings meaningful

Left-align text, it's easier to read

Never underline text - links are usually underlined, so text that is underlined but isn't a link could be confusing

Never type in all capitals as this suggests that you are shouting and capitals are hard to read

Use plain language without being patronising

Using non-standard English can confuse those for whom English is a second language so avoid using slang

Think
globally - your website will be seen by people all over the world.
Avoid cultural references or things that wouldn't make sense out of
context

Avoid jargon

Use active rather than passive
phrases - "Indira will present her research findings at the conference"
not "Research will be presented by Indira at the conference."

Use bold to highlight key phrases - as people skim-read your page, these bold key phrases will stand out

Writing accessible text

There are nearly 10 million people in the UK with a disability.
Given these figures, having a website that is accessible to as many
people as possible is not only a legal requirement, it is fundamentally
important. Whilst a lot of what makes a site accessible is down to
design, there are some things that a website content writer can do to
help.

The Exception to the Rule

There are 7 million people in the UK with literacy problems. People
with low-literacy can read but have difficulties doing so. Many
low-literacy readers can't understand text just by glancing at it; they
must read word for word. They focus on each word, slowly moving their
eyes across each line of text. Low-literacy users don't skim-read
websites.

For many low-literacy users, this can make accessing websites
difficult. Often users will skip over large amounts of text, get lost
in complex navigation or choose the first search result, irrespective
of its relevance.

As content writers, we can help those with low-literacy by doing some of the following:

Simplify your text - use text aimed at those with a reading level of year 6 on your homepage and other key pages

Avoid text that moves or changes such as animations

Simplify navigation

Make your search tolerant of misspellings and try to make the first result, the right result

Content maintenance

Make sure your content remains up-to-date:

Review all your pages regularly, once every three months or so

Review the more important pages, like the homepage, more often; every month or even every week

Be
specific with times and dates: instead of saying "Last week we launched
our new campaign" put "In March 2007, we launched our campaign on
domestic violence" that way, the text will never go out of date,
although that doesn't mean you won't want to update it at some point!

Numbers on the web

When writing for the web:

Write numbers with digits, not letters (17 not seventeen)

Use a combination of digits and letters for very large numbers (3 million, 10 billion, etc.)

Use digits even when the number is the first word in the sentence or bullet point

Why?
Numbers represent facts and can break up a page. If someone is scanning
your page, chances are their eyes will stop on the digits as they look
for their facts.

Writing copy that gets you noticed

There's no point in having a website if people can't find you. Your
content makes your website findable. Search engines will categorise and
prioritise your site based on your content (amongst other things). This
means you should:

Use the reader's language - use keywords that will match your audience's search queries

Put keywords in your headings - search engines like headings

Use
keywords in your text: if your page is supposed to be about domestic
violence, make sure the words domestic violence appear in the text.

Include
links to other websites and get people to link to your site - this
gives your content and website as a whole, credibility

Editorial control

Someone in your organisation should have editorial control of your
website. This person is responsible for ensuring that each page on the
site reaches certain standards. The organisation needs to agree these
standards and include them in any training or induction around writing
for the web.

Think about your audience and decide on a tone of voice, and even a
writing/reading age. An editorial style guide will help to enforce
these agreed standards including using uniform language across the
site.